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7 Roles Within Your Organization that are Vital to Rollout Success

Written by Pam Bednarczyk, Content Marketing Manager | May 09, 2017

If you’re in charge of rolling out your company’s new communications technology, it’s important to remember that you can’t do it all by yourself. It takes a team to launch a new digital initiative. So before you even begin planning, identify the people who will play pivotal roles in helping you transform your organization’s capabilities.

According to new research from McKinsey, every successful digital transformation depends on seven key roles. In a global survey on organizational transformation, the management consultant identified them as: the CEO, senior leaders, HR executives, the head of the program management office, the initiative champion, line managers and change agents.

“Each of these roles has unique value to add and, when everyone contributes, the odds of transformation success are much greater,” McKinsey says.

Let’s take a closer look at each role and how it contributes to successful rollouts.

1. Your CEO

Without buy-in from your chief executive, it’s safe to say your initiative won’t go anywhere. But with a committed, engaged and vocally supportive CEO, the odds of success are significantly higher. In fact, McKinsey’s research shows that when the CEO actively supports the initiative, it’s 5.8 times more likely to be successful. The firm recommends that the CEO communicate “a compelling change story and [be] a visible advocate for the changes taking place.”

2. Your Senior Leaders

For an organizational-wide transformation, it’s imperative that all groups are on board with the changes. Senior leaders play an important role in cascading the message down to their teams and mobilizing their organizations to make the change. McKinsey emphasizes, however, that senior leaders must be sure to align their messages to be effective. When they do this, success becomes 6.3 times likelier.

3. Your Human Resources Leaders

Because Human Resources has a horizontal view of the organization, it’s in a good position to examine the strategic implications of change and translate them into the daily work of employees throughout the company. Not only can HR help workers understand why it’s essential for them to adopt new communications technology, it also can communicate the link between your initiative’s high-level objectives and employees’ day-to-day work.

4. Your Program Management Office Leaders

The program management office has deep experience with rollouts and change management. Thus, it plays an important role in identifying key barriers to change as well as solving problems along the way. As the experts in project management, it should take the lead in sharing best practices.

5. Your Initiative Leader

Give clear ownership of the project to the leader of your communications technology rollout team. As the expert on all issues and information related to the new technology, this individual should be able to collaborate closely with leaders of other digital transformation initiatives and articulate why communications technology is central to your company’s successful transformation to digital.

6. Your Line Managers

Line managers are the key interface to employees, and thus form the linchpin of the entire rollout. They should help foster both support for and understanding of the communications technology among their team members. McKinsey emphasizes that frontline managers must make the change “tangible and digestible” to their teams.

7. Your Change Agents

Finally, McKinsey describes change agents as “employees who dedicate significant time to working as facilitators or agents of the transformation.” These are your ambassadors and early adopters who’ll be role models for the rest of the organization. They’re the ones who’ve already embraced the new technology, are passionate users, and are willing to share their tips and best practices. They’re critical to helping you build excitement around your rollout.

At first it may not be easy to get buy-in from everyone in these roles, but doing so is worth the effort. Because once everyone is on board, your odds of a successful communications technology rollout rise significantly.